Wireless local area networks (WLANs) are becoming ubiquitous and populated by more than just personal computers. There is an emerging trend for consumer devices to become wireless and connect to WLANs. As wireless connectivity and availability increase for more devices and users, the security risks of unauthorized intruders also increase. However, increased security countermeasures often confuse unsophisticated wireless users.
Fortunately, some conventional user-friendly WLAN interoperable security approaches are available. For example, devices certified in accordance with Wi-Fi Alliance's certification standard (e.g., WI-FI CERTIFIED™) are able to interoperate with each other (regardless of the manufacturer of the device). Moreover, the Wi-Fi Alliance introduced the WI-FI PROTECTED SETUP (WPS) protocol that describes how secure WLANs may be setup and how certified new wireless devices may be added to these WLANs in a secure and user-friendly fashion.
With conventional, simplified, user-friendly device setup procedures (e.g., WPS), a user may add a new device onto a secure WLAN by manually entering a device-supplied personal identification number (PIN) via a user interface (UI) for network authorization. The device-supplied PIN acts as a shared secret between the new device and the existing secure WLAN.
However, some devices have their PINs printed on the devices (e.g. on a label). These PINs are less secure than PINs dynamically generated by other types of devices. Like a key to a lock that never changes, a printed PIN is a security risk. Also, one of the aims for the conventional secure network-enrollment procedures (e.g., WPS) is ease of use for the user. Unfortunately, the conventional procedures still require that the user perform crucial manual steps. For example, with WPS, the user must find and read the new device's PIN (which is typically 8-digits long) and then manually enter that 8-digit PIN into an authorizing UI for the existing secure network.